TIMBERFRAME, POST and BEAM HOMES

There is a single gas fireplace that opens out to both the music room and the living room. Says Bill, "Not opting for a wood-burning fireplace took a lot of soul-searching; I like to burn wood. But, I was also thinking ahead to a time when it will be physically more difficult for me to cut and carry the wood." Perhaps unconsciously, the same foresighted thinking may have taken place in the evolution of the design. "We didn't think ahead to just having the house on one level, but in retrospect it would-or should-have been a requirement."

Both sides of the chimney are faced with white marble quarried in Proctor, VT, while the hearth in the living room is locally-quarried Isle La Motte Black Marble (actually an example of the Chazy limestone that the island was once noted for). Bruce made the hearth and mantel in the music room from the same walnut as the cabinetry.

One thing that Bruce pointed out to me was the coexistence of the many different species of wood found in the house. For example, the floor in the music room is mahogany, while the wood floor in the rest of the house is red oak.

Bruce milled the baseboards out of oak too, while the remainder of the interior trim work is western red cedar. Along with the hemlock frame and #2 red cedar ceiling, black walnut and oak cabinetry, that's a lot of different

Construction on the project began in April 1999. After the site work was completed and the foundation poured, a six-man crew from North Woods Joinery arrived with the frame and their crane. Four days later, with the hemlock frame erected and securely pegged together with oak pegs, they turned the project over to Bruce. Together with his wife, two sons and a hired man, Bruce turned the frame into a home over the course of the next year. Bill and Marj actually moved into the house nine months later in December, about three months before it was finally finished. Fortunately, client, contractor, architect and timber framer all enjoyed a fine working relationship, and it shows in the completed house.

The home is heated by a hydronic radiant heating system. Loops of radiant heating tubes are encased in a thin gypsum/concrete composite slab poured right on top of the subfloor. When the winter winds come howling out of the Canadian north, all the floors radiate gentle warmth. The Great Room windows also contribute solar gain in the winter , while in the summer, the sun is shaded enough from the roof overhead and by trees in the morning and afternoon to keep the room from overheating

There's not much that Bill and Marj would change about their house… and, as Bill says, "The architect would kill us if we tried." It's possible that they'll build a detached garage at some point, but for now, the Hills are content as they enjoy another Lake Champlain summer.